The growth of the food service industry in the United States has produced a need for a new, more convenient system of recycling used cooking oils produced in the frying process. Up until the mid-1980's standard recycling equipment was the 55 gallon barrel. This equipment received a slight upgrade in the 1970's by the provision of a cosmetic, metal cabinet enclosure to encase the barrels.
In 1983 Don Onken of Onken Enterprises introduced the bulk tank storage method of collection to the rendering industry. This bulk collection paradigm was quickly adopted by the rendering industry because it essentially perfected the collection method from corral to plant for the benefit of the renderer. This collection method tripled route capacity and reduced processing costs by bulking the material collected in the truck. Today, you will find these bulk containers behind most restaurants in the United States and Canada. They have become as ubiquitous as the trash dumpster.
Now, in the second half of the 1990's, a new paradigm is being introduced to the food service industry. This paradigm is generically known as an AUTOMATED GREASE HANDLING SYSTEM. Its design is for the benefit of the food service operator. It automates a number of the steps involved in the recycling of fats from the fryer to the recycling plant. It is a major paradigm shift for the industry. This system can be retrofitted into most existing restaurant locations or installed as new equipment in a new restaurant.
In essence, rather than store grease in a dumpster-like container outside the restaurant, the grease is now placed in a heatable tank inside the restaurant kitchen which can be evacuated to a truck outside by through-the-exterior-wall connections. It is still necessary to maintain the grease at a warm temperature so that it will flow through the evacuation plumbing to the collection truck. It is also necessary to have a reliable means for monitoring the remaining capacity of the storage tank to avoid over-filling it.